$9 Million to Research Cellular Motors at Penn Muscle Institute |
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October 14, 2014, Volume 61, No. 09 |
Researchers in the Pennsylvania Muscle Institute (PMI), based at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have received $9 million over the next five years from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to investigate the biology of cellular motors. E. Michael Ostap, director of the PMI is the principal investigator. Roberto Dominguez, Yale E. Goldman and Erika L.F. Holzbaur, all professors of physiology, are project leaders. The grant also supports a core for state-of-the-art nanotechnology tools for Penn researchers, directed by Henry Shuman, adjunct associate professor of physiology.
The overall grant aims to study the machinery that powers the movement of materials in and out of cells and between compartments within cells. This process is called membrane trafficking and is crucial for healthy cell function. Neurological, sensory and metabolic disorders occur when this process malfunctions.
Cells have a system of molecular highways and transport motors for moving internal cargos, called the cytoskeleton. Some of these highways are built for long-range transport of cargos, while others are for short-range deliveries. Remarkably, the cell is able to rapidly—in seconds to minutes—build, disassemble and rebuild these highways in response to the needs of the cell.
“Our team is investigating the molecular mechanisms of these transport motors,” said Dr. Ostap. “We want to know how they use chemical energy to perform the mechanical work of transport, how the highways are built and disassembled and how motors link to cellular cargos.”
The collaborative team is developing and using state-of-the-art molecular imaging, single-molecule spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography and cell biological techniques. “The strong Perelman School support for the PMI has been crucial for the initiation and support of this project,” said Dr. Ostap. “And importantly, this work requires an interdisciplinary team of investigators and the center-and-institute structure inherent to the School of Medicine to be successful.” |